Filtering by Tag: clean living

We have a new product line on the shelves - our homegrown bottled herbs!

During the peak season, we not only offer lavender, but around 10 different varieties of "pick your own herbs" as well.

Some of these include spearmint, Cuban mojito mint, rosemary, sage, basil, Thai basil, thyme, oregano, stevia, Mexican tarragon and nasturtium. They are grown with organic practices and are located in beds adjacent to our lavender fields. It makes for the perfect opportunity to grab a handful of freshness before you leave for that night's dinner.

I'm sure, like us, many of you begin to miss the taste of these fresh flavors come winter. So, to keep a little summer with us all year-round, we pick what is left of our herbs (from heartier plants like basil, rosemary, sage, stevia and thyme) in late summer/ early fall to dry out and bottle up.

How you ask?

There are more than one way to dry herbs, but you always want to make sure they are free of dirt. Then, we decided use a process of wrapping them in newspaper before storing in a dry, dark place until the leaves are brittle and void of any water. At this point, they can be hand-stripped and bottled. To best preserve the flavors, our herbs are bottled whole. We suggest crushing just before use to get the maximum flavor for the longest length of time.

But, why fresh herbs?

Fresh herbs, like the ones grown in our field, are about 5x more fragrant and flavorful than store-bought products. They don't go through the travel process, are grown locally, and if you use organic practices like us, you know they have not come in contact with any unwanted chemicals. They are also a healthy alternative to salt in order to add richness and flavor to your food.

Along with our bottles, we also use these herbs in our infused vinegars and olive oils - they are fairly simple to make for those looking for a summertime project!

If so, than you may already know that we have 10-12 different varieties, all with their own special mixes of lavender and other floral scents. Each one is made with all natural ingredients and provides a way to add a nice fragrance to your house without the use of chemicals.

If you’ve been thinking of making your own spray – maybe you have a particular scent that you want to experiment with, or you want to make one of your favorite store-bought brand sprays more eco-friendly – than here is how we make ours to be all-natural with just the right amount of fragrance!

To begin, the items you will need to have a few items handy:

Spray Bottles and Caps

Essential Oil

Water

Vegetable Glycerin

Eye Dropper

Gallon Jug

Measuring Cups

Pouring Cylinder

Then, there is a bit of prep work.

If you are making sprays for the first time, you will need to purchase your preferred scents and experiment with their ratios. For the most part we use essential oil to scent our sprays, but in some cases when essential oil is not available to achieve a specific scent, we use fragrance oil. If you are using small amounts, these can be found at your local health food store. Larger quantities (like we use) can be purchased online through companies like Essential Wholesale online.

Experimenting with ratios can be a bit time consuming. Using a paper towel, add different drop amounts of various oils onto separate corners of the towel creating different mixes, and see which smells are most appealing to you. If you want to use lavender as one of your scents, we have found that you normally need 5x as much lavender as most other scents because it known as an undertone and its fragrance is easily overpowered.

Next, make sure you have spray bottles purchased. We get ours through SKS Bottle & Packaging, and we typically buy a small (4 oz.) and large (8 oz.) size. For smaller purchases, you can also check your local craft store.

Collect your water, vegetable glycerin and oil. Using your gallon jug, measuring cups and cylinder, mix the water and glycerin. Typically, our water to glycerin ratio is 9/10 water to 1/10 glycerin. The glycerin is added to prevent the ingredients from separating over time. Feel free to add the liquid to any size spray bottle, but know the mixture ratio will change depending on size.

The amount of essential oilor fragrance oil added is up to you. Depending on how potent you want your spray will tell you how much oil to add – the stronger the fragrance, the more oil. Use an eye dropper to put in your preferred amounts into your spray bottles. Be sure this is washed out after completion, as some oils as so strong they can eat away the rubber on top of the eye dropper over time!

After all of this has been completed – shake and enjoy! Good luck with your mixtures and happy spraying! (And for those of you who don't have the time to make your own, you can check out our different varieties in the online shop!)

*Many essential oils are clear but a few and some fragrance oils are darker in color. You might want to pretest using them on a piece of fabric you don't love!

Are you ready to clean up you lifestyle? Make your home more wholesome? Find a way to naturally bring relaxation and better rest to the new year?

Seven Oaks Lavender Farm will be launching a new product line called "Clean Living" to give tips on doing just that!

We are in the process of adding a new category to the Online Store highlighting all of our most eco-friendly and all-natural products. We will also be writing blog posts about those products and other tips and techniques we have to live a cleaner life (look for our Clean Living logo on each blog post). So be sure to keep checking for updates!

*You can also take advantage of our 20% off deal (on orders $29.95 and over...AND there's free shipping!) now through the end of January with the coupon code: Clean Living

Keep in Touch! Sign up here for the official news from Seven Oaks Lavender Farm. Enjoy updates from the farm, lavender tips, craft ideas, delicious recipes and news about upcoming specials. Just fill in the form below.

Name *

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email Address *

ZIP Code *

Thank you for signing up for the periodic newsletter from Seven Oaks Lavender Farm. We look forward to corresponding with you, and promise to never share your info.